The 'obvious' killer.

[Skids]

So, the latest 'headline' disease, monkeypox is out there.

No doubt, the media and big pharmaceutical companies will be salivating at the prospect of another money spinner to follow in the steps of covid.

Meanwhile, the biggest, preventable killer on the planet just moseys along, as it has for decades, with seemingly minimal attention. Why???

Heart Disease, the biggest killer in Australia, accounting for 118 deaths every day (1 every 12 minutes) and a quarter of all deaths each and every year.

The media bombard us when a few dozen people (mostly in their 70's, 80's & 90's) are admitted to hospital with covid, yet 1619 people, of all ages, are admitted every single day with heart disease issues... 1 a minute. And it's preventable!

Almost 66% of Aussies are overweight or obese... 66%!!
80% don't do enough physical activity.
90% don't eat enough vegetables. Just doing this alone, can reduce your chances of heart disease by almost 20%.
75% of us are at risk of developing heart disease.

Turn on your TV, the first commercial break, you'll see an add with a catchy tune as a family enter a drive thru fast food restaurant, this will be followed by a party on the beach with bikini clad girls knocking back pre-mixed vodka drinks... at least we don't have cigarette advertising anymore I guess.

The biggest killer in, not only Australia, but the world is allowed to run rampant with major contributors being advertised as if they're elixirs of youth on TV, Radio and billboards.... and we have calls from some to reintroduce masks??? Really? The world is 100% certified, nuts!

https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/activities-finding-or-opinion/key-stats-cardiovascular-disease

See how your area stacks up ... https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/health-professional-tools/interactive-heart-map-australia

[stui magpie]

I think Wanie's death rightfully sparked a spate of middle aged blokes getting checked. The thing is, so much of it is preventable.

Regular GP checks and bloods, eat less crap, get more exercise, lose some weight.

I get a full set of bloods done every 12 months, latest result came through today, all fine. I Walk at least 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes, hard walking that gets the heart rate up over 140, usual resting rate is 65. Weight stable for 2 years at 90-91kg.

Yeah I should quit smoking (again) and cut back on the booze, but a man's not a saint.

[Pies4shaw]

Skids, the notion of "heart disease" is an agglomeration of quite a few different causes of death. The figure you mention (1 death every 12 minutes) is the one the Heart Foundation puts out for what it calls "cardiovascular disease". That includes the various kinds of stroke, heart failure, various kinds of heart attacks and other vascular disorders that kill (I'm not sure what the Heart Foundation adds in but they probably include the various froms of thromboembolism in their figure, as well). It's a bit like talking about "cancer" (which is actually dozens of different diseases that have different mechanisms of action, have all sorts of different causal factors and are amenable - or otherwise - to various different forms of treatment) or "respiratory disease" (asthma, bronchitis, penumonia, COVID, influenza, COPD - etc etc etc).

It's important to make the distinction because some "heart disease" is lifestyle-affected and some of it isn't. So, eg, my mother died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack last week. The only "lifestyle" factor she had was that she was about to turn 93.

I think, eg, that heart attacks kill about 50 people per day - ie, about what COVID was doing last week.

In a sane universe, people would exercise adequately, eat properly and not drink heavily - and also wear masks, when and as appropriate, to limit the transmission of dangerous communicable respiratory illnesses.

I've made the observation before in another context but it's worth making it again - it's mostly older people who die of most "natural causes" (other than, eg, some particularly aggressive maglinant neoplasms that tend to take out younger people), so one needs to be cautious about making an illusory distinction between "old people" dying of COVID and people who "aren't old" dying of other "natural causes". So, although younger people do, of course, die from heart attacks, the average age of death from a heart attack is about 65 for men and about 73 for women (those are the US figures - I don't know the position here but I expect it is similar - unless you're indigenous, of course).

It's also worth mentioning that a fair bit has been done about this over a long period of time. Eg (according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's 2014 report entitled Trends in coronary heart disease mortality: age groups and populations - found here: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/heart-stroke-vascular-diseases/trends-in-coronary-heart-disease/summary ) :

[think positive]

well you fooled me skids i was sure you were going to blame the jab!

[Skids]

Hahaha TP.

Appreciate what you're saying P4S and please accept my sincere condolences for your loss.

I believe the impact of obesity, alcohol and smoking can not be dismissed when talking about heart disease.
The fact that 2 in 3 Aussies are overweight or obese should be sounding alarms around the country.
Allowing the big fast food chains to have 'happy meals', games and toys to promote their garbage food is something that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency IMO. 90% of us don't eat enough vegetables... I find that staggering.
The same with alcohol and the gimmicks they use to promote their poison is a disgrace.

I think the main reason deaths have fallen, is the advances in medicine and has nothing to do with lifestyle changes.

Obesity rates in Australia are increasing at an alarming rate. From 19% of the population in 1995 to 24% by 2007 and to 31% in 2018.
The prevalence of severe obesity has risen over the past 20 years, with the age-standardised prevalence of class II and class III obesity (body mass index of 35+) among Australian adults almost doubling, from 4.9% to 9.4% between 1995 and 2014-15.

How many kids do you see walking or riding a bike to school? Their sports days are cancelled if rain is even forecast, or the temperature too high.
We need to get kids moving and instil an active, healthy lifestyle.

https://www.obesityevidencehub.org.au/collections/trends/adults-australia

[Pies4shaw]

Thanks, Skids.

[think positive]

100% agree.

Hubby has just been given high cholesterol tablets, he made a little effort to change his eating habits, but the pill is the key in his mind, whether he admits it or not! He’s not overweight, maybe a bit of a paunch, but he’s 65, he works 10 hours a day in a physical job, like no one I’ve ever met, but that doesn’t effect aerobic capacity. He hasn’t smoked for a good 25 years (he has my eldest school note from grade prep that says ‘I love you dad but dont smok because you will die” on his wardrobe wall! ) but I’m nagging him about alcohol free days, and taking walks!

I know a staggering amount of people who have had lap band surgery, they can’t eat much but they make bad choices for what they do eat.

I also know far too many women, my age, to youngsters who are far to sedentary, and the Aussie male beer gut is alive and well.

Fast food doesn’t just make you fat and unhealthy, it trains your tastebuds, people stop enjoying fresh healthy unadulterated food and want a slather if butter or sugar. And they feed it to their kids and get them addicted too.

Dont get me started on smoking!

I’ve never been a heavy drinker, I’ve always been a two pot screamer, but theirs been times in my life where I didn’t have enough alcohol free days. I’d already cut down, wine always gives me a hangover (cheap or expensive, doesn’t matter) so I rarely drink it, I do love a Jim beam, but since I got the flu 5 weeks ago I’d say I have 4-5 alcohol days a week, sometimes more, never less. I used to pour a glass to edit at night, now I have jarrah mint hot chocolate!

Yesterday was the first day I’ve felt human in 5 weeks, where I didn’t work an hour and need a rest. I feel unfit, and I get lethargic, but I’m down just over 3 kg, (want to lose another 4 or 5) my skin is great, I’m sleeping better, spending less time on my iPad, I’ve knitted 3 jumpers for myself, and I feel calmer, less stressed. I’ve got used to my own company. Because I dropped the weight so easily (first time since I hit menopause I’ve been able yo do it) it’s encouraged me and retrained my gut to be happy with less food, I’ve always eaten pretty. Well, but I’ve stopped the all day snacking when I’m cleaning or doing paperwork! I’m not sorry I got so sick. I’m not ready for the gym yet, but I walked 5klm plus the other night without realising it, when walking upstairs meant I needed an hour rest when I was at the sickest and coughing so bad I thought I’d pass out! I’ve copped flack from a friend who doesn’t believe in covid, or flu shots or masks but you know what, I don’t give a shit! Maybe it’s what I needed, a reset. It’s truly been a blessing in disguise!

Cheers, I got carried away like I used to! But I’m not deleting it! Although the trolls are seemingly gone, I just don’t care anyway. Know your worth. The single most important thing I’ve learnt in a long time! Cheers

Might have an egg and avocado on toast for brekky! But healthy serving sized, not stupid cafe sized!

[think positive]

[stui magpie]

Condolences P4S. 93 is a good innings but yeah, as TP said it's never easy to lose a parent.

[Pies4shaw]

Thanks, folks.

I didn't mean to derail the thread - so get back on topic, now.

[Skids]

So what are our governments doing about this issue?
I can't find much at all.

We've got the 2020–25 National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA)

Signed by all Australian governments, the 2020–25 Addendum to National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA) aims to improve health outcomes for all Australians and ensure our health system is sustainable.

That's wonderful, a bit like training more panel beaters to deal with worse drivers on the road.
There needs to be a real focus on being active and healthy... Hello!

Firstly, all fast food 'gimmicks', happy meals and the like should be banned, immediately. The promotion of this garbage food to our young Australians is an absolute disgrace and it sickens me when I see the lines at the drive thrus.

The population needs some hard education on this stuff, it's not hard and it's actually fun being active.... Why isn't it a priority?

I've bought some tennis racquets, balls, a footy, we have a trampoline and the pool for the grandkids. All my daughters are very active, I used to make them swim 100 laps after school

It's great being able to chase the kids around the park, kick a ball with them, teach them how to hit a tennis ball, swim laps in the pool. This needs to become the normal way of life for more people.

And start eating veggies!! I still can't believe that 90% figure

[stui magpie]

[Skids]

That's the thing though Stui, it's not just a now and then thing anymore.
I hear kids demand it and they get it, whenever they want.

Just this arvo, I picked up 2 of the grandkids from school, first thing they say "We're hungry, can we get McDonalds?".... after todays discussion there was two chances of me buying them chips!

I told them I'd make them something when we got home. They're pretty good eaters. I steamed up some spinach & carrots, told them if they didn't eat their veggies, they'd have to get a needle in their eyeball when they get older, did the trick, they smashed the lot.

True story though, my old boy has to have a needle, directly into the eyeball every 6 weeks, otherwise his macula degeneration will send him blind.

Last time I was getting my eyes tested I spoke about Macula disease with the optometrist. It is one of those lovely hereditary things, but you can reduce your chances of getting it by eating heaps of green leafy veggies and a handful of nuts every day and, one of the most important things, staying well hydrated.

[think positive]